Tesla shares rebound despite fire probe

Nov. 19, 2013
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The photo shows the result of a Tesla fire Nov. 6 after the car strick road debris near Smyrna, Tenn. The Tennessee Highway Patrol provided the photo via the Associated Press. It was the third high-profile fire in several weeks. A federal probe is underway / AP

In a post on the company's blog, he wrote, "Since the Model S went into production mid last year, there have been over 400 deaths and 1,200 serious injuries in the United States alone due to gasoline car fires, compared to zero deaths and zero injuries due to Tesla fires anywhere in the world."

Drivers of the three Model S Teslas, which caught fire after hitting road debris, were unhurt, and praised the cars for helping them escape injury.

Karl Brauer, senior analyst at Kelley Blue Book auto researcher, says: "While only three Tesla fires have occurred, that's three more than I'm aware of for the Nissan Leaf, which has sold in greater numbers while being on the market longer.

"Is there an inherent design flaw in the Tesla's battery pack that makes it more prone to fires compared to other electric cars? That's what NHTSA will be determining."

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's preliminary investigation is a first step to see if there is an obvious fault, or something that bears further investigation in what's called an engineering analysis.

Preliminary investigations seldom lead to mandatory recalls, though they sometimes unearth obvious flaws that an automaker will correct promptly.